Talk:Video game music/Archive 1

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Same meaning[edit]

monotone and monotonous mean exactly the same thing. That last edit was redundant. But reverting it would be, too. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Andy Christ (talkcontribs) 21:39, 4 October 2004

they do, but one is an adjective and one is a noun, also, it's really hard to tell this much later what edit you're talking about --162.111.235.34 (talk) 18:11, 4 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Video games noted for their music (Discussion)[edit]

What exactly is the goal of "Video games noted for their music"? I've never even heard of some of these soundtracks, and there are several soundtracks I really enjoy that aren't on here. It just seems like a list where people point out soundtracks they like, but it should be something more than that. --Kaleb.G 22:56, 2005 Jan 25 (UTC)

You're right. Honestly, I think if you don't actually see a lot of other stuff related to the game's music outside the game itself and like, one or two soundtrack albums (MOST of which are just the in-game music, or CD recordings of midi files), they shouldn't be on there. There's also the games for which certain composers (Yuzo Koshiro, who has been coasting for over a decade on a couple of good pieces he did in the early 90s and late 80s) gained fame should also be included, I guess.

Seriously, it includes games which barely caught anyone's attention, ever, and which if you were to ask 100 visitors to Overclocked Remix to hum a few notes of one of it's songs, 99 wouldn't be able to give you three notes correctly. That is not "noted." — Preceding unsigned comment added by Andy Christ (talkcontribs) 05:08, 14 February 2005

I noticed Vagrant Story was removed from the list. I would say that this game is definitely noted for its music. I say this with complete objectivity. I agree completely with cleaning up the list, but I believe VS should stay. You know a VG soundtrack must be good when people say things like this about it:

"And to those attempts I can only ask: what comparisons exist that parallel the ominous symphonic brooding, the distressingly sinister musical texturing, the chillingly resolute atmospheric character, the brilliant and vibrant experimentalism, the inventive harmonic phrasing, and the illusory and evasive nature that is the score to Vagrant Story? I honestly believe that there is no musical work in the game music industry that matches the musical depth that Hitoshi Sakimoto has ventured to create here, and his intelligent composition has conceived a score that defies mere generalization and in fact exists in a genre whose only origin is itself. Vagrant Story OST, tucked far away in its own dark, deep, and distinctive musical domain, lives and breathes in a frighteningly beautiful dimension all its own."

PiccoloNamek 05:19, Feb 14, 2005 (UTC)

Hey, i was just about to say something about this. A year later and nothings been done about it, eh? Could they at least say whats so notable about the music, rather than just saying "The music was notable." seemingly in an attempt to get round the notability guidelines? -- jeffthejiff (talk) 11:13, 28 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Video games noted for their music[edit]

This was the last instance of this list. It was removed due to lack of information about system, year and composer. It would be a nice if you could check this list and transfer the items to the appropriate system-specific list (as seen in the article). If you do so, please remove the item in this list. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kieff (talkcontribs) 23:38, 28 March 2005

Nintendo music genre[edit]

Nintendo music genre is a good text, though it can be asked whether it should be an article of its own... A new page about nintendo music would include that text plus more information about Nintendo music and its composers.

Looked like original research to me... I'd like to see references about it Kieff | Talk 02:08, Apr 2, 2005 (UTC)
I'd vote for a new article. And although ya know it's true, it does seem like original material. Though, here's an interesting diddy:
nintendo rockmeccaneer 00:36, 18 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Bogus entry in timeline[edit]

  • 1999: Final Fantasy VIII released with the song "Eyes on Me". The song was recorded for the game with vocals provided by a popular asian singer, Faye Wong, this is the first time that a popular video game-series featured a vocal song in the soundtrack.

Untrue. Sonic CD was part of a popular video game series and IT featured several vocal songs... in 1993. Then in Sonic 3D Blast we had the song "I'm Your Hero", Sonic R featured TONS of vocal songs, and Sonic Adventure had theme songs for every character at least a YEAR before FF8 came out. Of course, this is hardly just Sonic that did this, but it proves to be an excellent counterexample to this entry. Should this entry stay in here, be reworded (it might be the first time a POPULAR artist supplied a vocal song), or just get nixed? --Shadow Hog 19:29, 4 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Technically speaking, even Final Fantasy VII had a vocal song ("One Winged Angel"), and I'd imagine a number of CD-based games did beforehand. Personally, I'm of the opinion it should just be removed. – Seancdaug 21:48, Jun 4, 2005 (UTC)
It's been removed for now. If anyone wants it BACK, now'd be a great time to make the argument for it. --Shadow Hog 19:16, 5 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Hell, there was a pop-style song in King's Quest VI too (1993?), "Girl in the Tower". Not to mention Castlevania: Symphony of the Night from 1997 which I'd imagine most console-gamers would know about. Melodia Chaconne 9 July 2005 19:08 (UTC)

Oh god I own King's Quest VI and I HATED that stupid song. Is it actually in the game though? I don't recall ever hearing it. I just discovered it because I just happened to stick the CD into a CD player to see what would happen and that song started playing. For more great singing goodness, Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal and StarCraft: Brood War also had bonus tracks with, um, "singing".
"How do you like my moves Daggoth?"
"Well done."
This is an interesting discussion though. I wonder if I can recall any songs from even further back.
--SeizureDog 08:20, 12 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Why is Metal Gear Solid included in the timeline? I don't see why it's important that Harry Gregson-Williams composed the music. Michael Giacchino's music performed by the Seattle Symphony for Lost World was, i think, the first example of an established film composer writing music for a game.

Is there anything that can be provided to prove that Carnival was the first game with continuous background music I thought the Magnavox2 had programmable ROM Cartridges that allowed for music? It does not even say anything about music at all on the Carnival article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.96.98.166 (talk) 14:57, 28 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Too many tangents in this article[edit]

Way too often this article dives into tangents. Some examples are mentioning the exact bit quality and khz of PC sound cards to overwording sentences that could be said in half the amount of reading. I have cleaned some of these up but I feel there is much more. I applaud the original author(s) for their thuroughness but feel many more changes can be done to streamline the topic of this article. Also this article seems to have a (positive) bias towards Commodore 64, and while rightfully it was the start of the video game music scene, at times some of the writing seems to ignore consoles and the PC scene. I have already made some minor changes to improve this. --TravisOwens@hotmail.com 16:45, 2005 Aug 26 (EST)

Specifying technical specifications like the bit rate and sampling rate of sound cards is not a tangent, it can dramatically affect the quality of sound. In a type of music that is focused so heavily on the "sound" itself, this is important. Mcfiredrill (talk) 19:46, 25 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Microsoft's revolutionary custom music?[edit]

The article currently states: "Microsoft's Xbox console revolutionized the industry by providing gamers with the ability to copy music from their own CDs onto the system's hard drive." This doesn't sound NPOV to me, as maybe for console games this was new a new feature, but even then it doesn't add a whole lot (in my opinion at least), meaning it doesn't classify as "revolutionary" (again, if you ask me)... although I'm not sure which industry was turned upside down exactly. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Retodon8 (talkcontribs) 14:24, 7 October 2005

Well for PC users this is pretty much old hat technology (having had many games in the past with either custom soundtrack support or the ability to do manual replacement of the shipped WAVs/MP3s), but the Xbox's Custom Soundtrack support is certainly widely lauded by fans everywhere you turn (probably most notably in Xbox port vs. PS2 original arguments regarding Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas).
I would call it more "widely popular" rather than "revolutionary" though, as it did not really change game music in general. But if the article were to talk about how the Xbox was the first console (? I think) to support Dolby 5.1 surround sound programming thus leading to a huge increase in game music's complexity and realism (and in turn allowing enemies to be heard in the exact direction they were located in), now that technology would be far more worthy of being called "revolutionary". GarrettTalk 00:43, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

External links[edit]

Apparently this has been readded. I edited down the description, and then alphabetized the list. The description was pretty biased, and didn't even accurately describe the music (said they were "remixes" when the artist himself calls them "covers", which they are, for the most part). If someone wants to remove it completely, that's fine too.
I applaud the guy for doing so many covers, especially with real instruments, but the quality there is largely inconsistant. Some tracks are great, but some sound worse than the source material -- and I can't say any of the tracks come close to the best work of people at VGMix/OCR, even despite the cover status. It's an obvious quantity over quality issue. But because of this quantity, it may be worth keeping him on the list.
--Kaleb.G 03:43, 3 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]
I haven't been putting myself on my here, someone else has. As far as the quality goes, some of those tracks are over 2 years old, and I didn't have good recording software. I no longer frequent VGMix, also. I do covers, not remixes, get it straight. I think I should be in the performers list just as much as anyone else, because I perform covers. Not one artist, or "performer" has the quantity of my catalogue, which I think entitles me to SOME kind of recognition, now that I found that I've been added on this thing. Also, its Posessor, not Possessor. I know its a typo, and thats what it should be. I removed the entry stating someone removed my link under the cirumstance that I'm on VGMix, because like I said, I don't go there anymore. Behold the power of wiki.
--ZombiePosessor 03:30, 9 March 2006
Anyone else think that there are just too many links shooting all over the place? -meccaneer April 2006
Yes, there are WAY too many. I was about to remove the two newest offenders, but it'd seem hypocritical -- there are just too many that aren't well known or big enough to justify, someone should do a major cleaning...I like using Wiki to find other sites as much as anyone, but on this page it's pretty rediculous. Anyone up for the task? ♫ Melodia Chaconne ♫ 16:19, 16 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Arranged Video Game Music in Soundtracks[edit]

I think we should mention an aspect about the CD soundtracks of video game music. Some soundtracks have arranged music to accompony the original tracks, and some soundtracks even revolve around arranged video game music. I heard there was a two disc CD soundtrack of Game & Watch Gallery, with one disc having music taken directly from the game, and the other having arranged versions of the music, even the short game over music. — Preceding unsigned comment added by NES Boy (talkcontribs) 22:26, 20 December 2005

Use of The Word "Song"[edit]

The article seems to use 'song' a lot...most video game music isn't vocal, and thus not songs. I know it's a common error amoung people to use the word to describle any piece of music, but it just seems wrong for an encyclopedia article. I won't go about changing it unless I get agreement however... Melodia Chaconne 17:12, 25 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

You are right. Mirror Vax 17:31, 25 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]
I don't remember editing the article much, but I normally (on Wikipedia and elsewhere) refer to single videogame-music units as "tracks". I agree with you that people should stop using "song" to refer to a lot of types of music--from videogame music tracks to classical music movements and pieces. ~GMH talk to me 18:53, 26 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]
True, they should be called 'tracks' but sometimes they can be called 'songs' because a 'song' does not always require lyrics or vocals. Ihsbislns (talk) 14:24, 11 January 2008 (UTC)Ihsbislns Comment[reply]
Technically, a song does require vocals. It is related to the word sing for a reason. Sure, the definition is changing over time, as they often do, but this is Wikipedia and we should strive for accuracy. Wyatt Riot (talk) 23:51, 11 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Outrun - first game with selectable music?[edit]

Wasn't Outrun the first game that let the player select a tune (Magical Sound Shower, Splash Wave, Passing Breeze - or no sound) while playing the game? In that way the game emphasizes the music in a way that made players very aware of those tunes. The article mentions that Outrun has memorable tunes, but I feel it should include the fact that the music was well integrated in the playing experience. I couldn't find proof that Outrun was the first game with selectable music, however in the ligth of the article it might be notable enough to mention. What do you think? Felsir 10:14, 17 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

That's the first one I remember... but I've been surprised before to see a "first" that pre-dates the one I thought started a trend. Coll7 23:42, 17 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I'm not sure at all, but I seem to remember some Atari 800 (i.e., computer) games with selectable music, which would predate Outrun by at least a couple years. Melodia Chaconne 17:13, 18 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

It should also be cited (if it is correct obviously) as being the first game to use diegetic music. The point is not necessarily that it was the first game with selectable music but that the character within the game was aware of the music and that it was them (the character) that was changing the music, via the car radio. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.96.98.166 (talk) 12:41, 27 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Some video game music samples?[edit]

Hello!

Wouldn't it be nice to upload some short audio samples from the most representative video game musics like, say, Outrun and Super Mario Bros.? Would it be considered as fair use if the sample is less than a minute long? --CutterX 01:26, 4 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

That's exactly why I asked about copyright rules over sound samples at the help desk a few weeks ago. I haven't got much will to do any of this lately, though, but it'd be nice if we started a poll with suggestions of which tunes would be adequate. ☢ Ҡieff 01:55, 4 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Outrun certainly should be in the bunch! There should be some samples from recent music and some from older to point out the technical evolution of sound chips. --CutterX 02:34, 4 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Alright, I'll propose a standard format, feel free give your opinions, critics or support:
  1. Length: 45 seconds
  2. Fade out of 2 seconds.
  3. If needed, fade in of 1 second. (long fade-ins sound bad)
  4. Format: ogg vorbis, 44khz, 96kbps, stereo.
  5. File name:
    VGM - Composer Name - Game Name (System).ogg
    , ie.:
    VGM - Koji Kondo - Super Mario Bros (NES).ogg
Uploaded files should then be categorized through the addition of the following template:
{{subst:vgm sample|composer name|game name|system name}}
Which renders as:

{{vgm sample}}

And also adds it to a category for linking all these files together. Feel free to edit the template. Suggestions are welcome. ☢ Ҡieff 19:00, 4 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
But would it be considered as fair use? What did the helpdesk told you? How long can the samples be? --CutterX 19:31, 4 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Quoting [sic]:
The best way is, of course, to get a release under the GFDL from the copyright holder. Assuming that a release is not available, then such content can only be used under fair use. See our fair use policy and our general copyright policy. There is no specific length limit (just as there is no specific size or resolution limit on images used under a fair use claim). The sound clip should significantly contribute to teh articel involved, it should be only a small part of the original rtecording, and should nto serve as a replacement for the original, nor be likely to ahrm the market, if any, for the original. Fair use tends to be discouraged. If you do use it, be sure to use a proper license tag, such as {{Non-free fair use in}}, and be sure to write a specific rationale statement on the image/media page, explaininbg why it quslifies as fair use in the particualkr article or articles where you intend it to be linked. Think twice before doing this, and please read the policy pages I linked to carefully first. DES (talk) 16:34, 24 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]
And from there, we have:
Audio clips Brief song clips may be used for identification of a musical style, group, or iconic piece of music when accompanied by critical or historical commentary and when attributed to the copyright holder.
So, I guess we're fine. I doubt we'd get in any trouble because of >10 years old video game tunes anyway. The new games is what we should worry about, but I don't think we'll have much problems with it. ☢ Ҡieff 20:11, 4 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
OK, thanks for the info. We should now select the video game music we want to sample. I will read the article from the beginning and think about what music would illustrate it well. I will post suggestions then. I hope you will do the same. We shouldn't upload too much samples because people will get bored, but select only three or four representative musics very different from each other if possible. --CutterX 20:26, 4 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I say we pick about 7, one for each of the major systems, such as C64, NES, SNES, MD, etc, plus a computer game. I have an extensive archive of these stuff, just name the games and I'll get to it. ☢ Ҡieff 22:46, 4 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Seven is a little bit much in my opinion, it may overload the article. This would mean almost as much musics as images. Don't turn the article into a jukebox. I don't think that it is interesting to show how every single sound ship sounds. People won't take the time to listen to seven samples especially if they sound similar. Four well-chosen samples are enough IMO to show that video game music is as versatile and creative as any other form. The first musics worth adding that come to mind are: Outrun ("Splash Wave"), Global Gladiators ("Dance Tune" which features digitized voices), Donkey Kong Country ("Aquatic Ambiance"), Turrican 2 ("World 1"), Final Fantasy VIII ("Liberi Fatali" or "Eyes on Me" since the article mentions Faye Wong)... It's hard to choose only four, I agree. --CutterX 06:12, 5 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I kind of disagree actually, esepcially if they embedded within the article. Outrun is of course a good idea, but what about showing that game music NOT all bleeps and bloops? FFVIII (Liberi Fatali is a better choice, as it doesn't have the "ballad" stigma) I can see, but what about something like Medal of Honor? Or Katamary Damacy (Que Sera Sera), King's Quest V/VI or some other similar computer game, the Guilty Gear series, etc. etc. etc. Melodia Chaconne 17:22, 5 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Oh, forgive me, I forgot to mention it: I was thinking a sample gallery at the bottom of the article, not in-line examples. Those wouldn't look so good. But I don't think 7 samples is too much, since the article is about MUSIC afterall, and a very wide and long-developing genre, so it's perfectly reasonable and understandable to include several samples of the development of things along these years. And this is the reason I said one per system. Btw, I'd rather have "A One-Winged Angel" (FFVII) instead of "Liberi Fatali" (FFVIII) because it came first and was the "groudbreaking" one afterall. It's a good pick as well, since I belive it was one of the first songs of the kind in video games. ☢ Ҡieff 19:42, 5 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, there would indeed be more place for samples in a gallery at the end of the article. But shouldn't we keep some samples (say two of them) inline at the same time, to draw people's attention on the gallery, to show it's available at the end of the article? I'm not that excited about totally separating the audio part from the text. The samples should illustrate the article, just as images usually do. How would an article look like if you put all its images at its end? With audio it's the same, since audio is precisely what this article is about. The reader should have the ability to listen to the music he is reading about. When he reaches the end and discovers the samples it will be somewhat too late. There's also the risk of this gallery becoming a juke-box that draws attention from the topic. --CutterX 00:00, 6 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
We wouldn't let it become a jukebox :P. Also note that if we're to include samples in-line, then there must be text accordingly, and currently we have only a few songs mentioned in particular, and we have lots of games. ☢ Ҡieff 03:22, 6 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Just a suggestion, but wouldn't be good to include an example of a game music that changes dynamically with a game scene? It'd show how music in games is related to what you're actually seeing. A good example (one of the many) is Need for Speed Most Wanted (I didn't play it, but I heard it) where music changes when you're in pursuit with police and when you're exploring the city. iLorbb 16:41, 27 May 2006 (CET)
I also would like to see a sub page linking to a gallery of sounds, or to a page in Commons. This because there is great ideas and there is a huge ammount of games with great music so it would be more accurate putting all of them into one place--ometzit<col> 03:55, 19 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Poll[edit]

Note: in this poll people vote for musics individually. What we want is a coherent selection of a few representative samples, wich will have to differ with each other in some way. While this poll is interesting for giving an overview of what musics are worth considering, its results shouldn't be decisive. Maybe should we make a poll, later, with propositions of music selections? --CutterX 00:15, 6 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Just so I'm clear on this, is this a poll for specific tracks rather than excerpts from games based on their compositional relevance or both? I ask because I would have thought that Super Mario Bros. would have been a better choice than Super Mario World because the latter used musical characteristics that had already been established by its predecessor e.g. music adapting to each environment and the glissando that accompanies Mario's jump. Therefore a brief clip of music of this nature would be just as valuable as an individually titled track.Kurushi (talk) 01:58, 19 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Games chosen so far[edit]

(none yet)

:Then when? There are votes back from February last year so I think a 2-1 is fair to make a choice.--ometzit<col> 04:11, 19 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Suggested[edit]

Please add your comments on these just like I've done, so we can easily keep track of votes.

  • Super Mario World (SNES)
    1. Nominate and support:The tune is a hit, its the best-selling game of the SNES and I have the file ready so tell me if you agree with uploading it.--ometzit<col> 03:55, 19 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]
In fact, the file is already uploaded, the Overlord theme is in the Super Mario World page
  • Kirby Super Star (SNES)
    1. Nominate and support:I have that file too ready to be uploaded--ometzit<col> 03:55, 19 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  • F-Zero (SNES)
    1. Nominate and support:It could be uploaded, but I dont have the file--ometzit<col> 03:55, 19 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  • Outrun (several systems)
    "Splash Wave"
    1. Oppose, actually. While it is memorable and mentioned in the article, I would rather another one instead for any of the systems this game came out on. And if we're talking Sega Genesis, OutRun is clearly not the best pick. ☢ Ҡieff
    2. Support, for the arcade one that is. It's one of the earliest arcade games to have a really 'full' sounding soundtrack, not to mention not overly 'gamey'. Melodia Chaconne 18:09, 6 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
    3. Support, it may not be for the Sega Genesis, it was in nearly all ports (if we would select music because it sounded bad or was absent on one system, the whole PC beep era would suffer). It is instantly recognisable, and IMHO a notable step in game music in the arcades. Felsir 19:14, 6 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Final Fantasy VIII (PlayStation)
    "Liberi Fatali"
    1. Neutral. I always felt this track was just Nobuo trying to develop the style of One-Winged Angel from FFVII some more. I think that one would be better because it was the earliest. ☢ Ҡieff
    2. Support; although this piece is not the most stylistically representative of the genre, it could be used to show the later development of more classically composed work. meccaneer
  • "Eyes on Me"
    1. Oppose. While it is in a way remarkable on the context of being used on a video game, it isn't a very remarkable sample regarding style or the genre. ☢ Ҡieff
    2. Neutral. It's a great track to showcase the whole orchestra and choir thing, but as a sample from the modern FFs, there are possibly better choices. Aerith's theme for instance. Melodia Chaconne 18:09, 6 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Final Fantasy VII (PlayStation)
    "One-Winged Angel"
    1. Support. First orchestra+choir song from the Final Fantasy series, more of a landmark than Liberi Fatali. ☢ Ҡieff
    2. Oppose. Too repetitive and musically poor (IMO of course). Not worth showcasing. And it's not a landmark either because the article isn't about Final Fantasy music, but video game music in general (this could be an argument if this music had been the first "orchestra + choir" in the VGM history). --CutterX 21:18, 5 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
    3. Oppose. First off, it's NOT orchestal any more than a lot of the music in the rest of the game is, or any of the SFami FFs for that matter. It's a landmark, yes, but as I said above, Aerith's Theme is probably a more representive choice for FF, or maybe even Tina/Terra from FF6. Melodia Chaconne 18:09, 6 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Streets of Rage (AKA Bare Knuckle) series (Sega Genesis)
    "Dreamer" from SOR2, by Koshiro, is my suggestion.
    1. Support. A very well praised set of soundtracks by Yuzo Koshiro and Motohiro Kawashima, and gets good ratings almost universally. The biggest Genesis/Mega Drive music archive, Project2612, has it ranked first, and the three soundtracks are among the most downloaded. ☢ Ҡieff
    2. Neutral. I don't know. The soundtrack is good but it's not a landmark either. Why would it be interesting to add in an encyclopedia? And there may be better musics on the genesis. --CutterX 21:13, 5 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
    3. Support. I'm insulted this isn't already part of the article. In my opinion it was a landmark, it truly focused on the soundtrack and brought in new genres. 213.78.210.33 10:30, 3 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  • Shinobi 3 (Sega Genesis)
    "Whirlwind".
    1. Neutral. Not a landmark but worth mentioning. --CutterX 21:13, 5 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
    2. Neutral. I had to listen to a sample to remember the music (the music/game title alone didn't ring a bell) however when I heard it I did recognise it. Felsir 19:14, 6 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Donkey Kong Country (SNES)
    "Aquatic Ambiance"
    1. Oppose. We need something more remarkable and popular from the SNES. I suggest Chrono Trigger. ☢ Ҡieff
    2. Support. I didn't suggest "Aquatic Ambiance" because of its popularity (and Donkey Kong Country soundtrack IS popular) but because it's a calm song that contrasts well with the generally punchy soundtracks from video games. And despite the fact that it's generated by a sound chip, it sounds almost like an audio CD track, which was quite impressive at the time and still is today. It would be relevant to compare this track to a music generated by a C64 (Turrican 2' "World 1" for example), to show that sound chips have evolved. --CutterX 21:01, 5 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
    3. Oppose; This tune is both unremarkable and not representative. I suggest something from F-Zero. meccaneer


  • Cannon Fodder (Amiga)
    "Main Theme" ("War Has Never Been So Much Fun")
    1. Neutral. This is just a suggestion. The song features digitized voices, is short (45 seconds will suffice to show how it sounds like from its beginning to its end), and sounds great (but that's a subjective statement). --CutterX 21:01, 5 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
    2. Support. It was also one of the first to have lyrics in the title song. Felsir 19:14, 6 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

(PS: we need some C64 thing here, come one)

  • Tetris (Game Boy)
    Theme-A
    1. Nominate and support: Oh come on, why hasn't this been suggested yet? It's only one of the most memorable and remixed songs ever. Its iconic music is second only to Super Mario Bros., this is a must include, seriously. --SeizureDog 08:43, 12 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Sonic the Hedgehog (Sega Genesis)
    Green Hill Zone (or another song from the series)
    1. Nominate and support: The Genesis had a very distinct sound that was very different from its SNES counterpart and needs an example clip to highlight this. Of course, using anything but a Sonic game for this purpose would be criminal. --SeizureDog 08:43, 12 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Metal Gear Solid (PlayStation)
    The Best is yet to come
    1. Nominate and support: I like this song lol ^^

Sound library question[edit]

I am looking for a place to link the term "sound library" (see DMX), which I presume would be the set of sound files and drivers associated with a particular PC video game. This article has some information on that concept, but is there another article that specifically address the lay and technical aspects of game-related sound libraries? Or is there a better term to use in its stead? Thank you for your input. User:Ceyockey (talk to me) 17:55, 4 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

How about VGM that's not in video games?[edit]

Does VGM have to be in a game to to be actual VGM? 85.76.24.127 14:17, 3 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Isn't that the DEFINITION of video game music? ☢ Ҡiff 21:03, 3 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Well many artist say they produce Video Game Music even though the music itself has never been in any kind of a game. I've always considered VGM as a genre. If this interpretation is completely wrong, I think the article should mention that VGM is not an actual genre. 85.76.24.127 20:16, 4 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]
To answer the original question of VGMs in VGs - no. VGM is a genre and VG soundtracks are found in games. Sometimes a song is both. Perhaps we need a new article differentiating the two. It would certainly solve the length issue of this article. -meccaneer April 2006
then you would have to define video game genre. if the definition of video game music is music that is in a video game, how would one justify it as a genre that is potentially mutually exclusive from being in a video game?RCHM 22:50, 5 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

albums[edit]

How about a List of albums of video game music? There are a few around now. Kansaikiwi 15:58, 3 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

too many to list all, i think.RCHM 22:48, 5 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Atari ST[edit]

When I was doing the re-write, I removed the ST sections because they had nothing to do with actual video game music. Their sections seemed to be based more around their rivalry with Amiga/commodore as a popular home computer more than a contribution to video games. ( or even its current role in chiptune.)

If it remains, it needs to briefly reference its contribution to video game music in the form of original and/or exclusive software titles noted for its music. If its primary point in being here is nothing more than to juxtapose the Commodore, or to be referenced as a midi workstation, it should be removed.RCHM 15:56, 17 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • looks like its squeezed its way back in since i wrote this. RCHM (talk) 16:50, 24 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

trim article[edit]

With the article's size now in concern with this article, I suggest the following sections at the end be moved to their own articles and expanded, or removed, as they only have a peripheral relation to the content of the article.

  • 7 popular sound formats by system
  • 8:related music genres
  • 9:composer related links, and all sub sections (should be "sites about video game composers", or somesuch
  • 10:sources of video game music, and all sub sections (should be "sites dedicated to video game music", or somesuch) RCHM 22:28, 25 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]
No, what needs to happen as I noted above, is a major trimming of the links. Unfortunetly, it seems almost everytime a self-serving link is removed, it's put back... ♫ Melodia Chaconne ♫
I dont think you saw the entirety of my post with the whole own articles and expanded, or removed, part. There's plenty of relevant wiki article links, and no reason why some new articles can't be formed to lighten this one up, in addition to removal of leftover flash. All I was doing was making a suggestion on where to start that maybe we could agree on and go from there. RCHM 04:57, 27 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I though of another solution, create an article for Video Game Music Culture. All these fan performers, emulation tools, and chip tune stuff really have nothing to do directly with the content of the article and could all conceivably made more relevant by grouping them as Culture extension. RCHM 23:56, 1 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
That could work, though there's still the matter of all those link that really shouldn't be here, as they really aren't notable...and such an article might make the self-promoters push them even more... ♫ Melodia Chaconne ♫ 16:08, 2 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I see what you're worried about, but i figure, just get it all seperated from the meat of the article first, then let the rest of wikipedia decide wether or not the leftovers & perceived self promoters merit anything. Even if they nix the other one, then we have a foundation for saying that it doesn't belong in this article either.RCHM 18:08, 2 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Lack of references[edit]

This article is 42k, much longer than the guideline of 32k, and there is not one single reference. I'm thinking it needs a pruning. Ideas? Wyatt Riot 00:23, 14 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I've been steadily trying to prune it for a while now, but i'm not sure how its decided what should be referenced. All the data i've sourced in addition to being part of my experience is tracable through other articles that do have citations, like technical info on the consoles of the era, and data streaming... RCHM 16:35, 16 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Personalised Soundtracks in the modern era[edit]

This section should mention the PC game Quarantine (game) which not only contained its own set of standard CD audio tracks, but also allowed you to place any other standard audio CD into your CD-ROM drive to play back during the game. There were no draw backs to this since the entire game could be installed to your hard-disk. The game was released in 1994. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.10.137.254 (talk) 19:01, 20 October 2006

Can anyone make a legal issues section?[edit]

And talk about how the soundtracks of video games are available on the internet and wether or not its legal. Also wether extracting the soundtrack from the game files in the pc version is legal or not. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Byge (talkcontribs) 04:53, 15 November 2006‎

The only company now that is cracking down on online downloads of there soundtracks is Capcom. Ihsbislns (talk) 14:20, 11 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Composers getting long[edit]

Before people start adding everyone and their cousin who happened to author music for a published video game, perhaps some pre-requisites to being listed should be decided upon. Thoughts? I'm thinking something like 'lead credited composer in at least X number of games' would be a good start.RCHM 02:34, 6 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Clean Up of External Links.[edit]

This article was tagged with the {{Cleanup-spam|date=April 2012}} tag. As part of WP:WPSPAM I have looked at the external links. In the end I felt it best to remove individual links to artists sites. If an artist is notable than they will have there own WP entry e.g. Mark Knight and there homepage will be linked to there. I do not believe that duplication of these links is necessary here. Following the policy guidlines in WP:NOT Wikipedia should not be used as a links repository. Where appropiate I have started to add a couple of references but this still needs more work.

I have left all the links to the news sites. However I feel that for consitency these should be reviewed by an expert on the subject -- Rehnn83 Talk 09:35, 3 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I agree with the removal, I think just killing all of them was best. I hope noone comes and reverts it... ♫ Melodia Chaconne ♫ 11:12, 3 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Timeline additions[edit]

John Ottman's work on I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream (computer game) back in 1996 precedes Metal Gear Solid 2 by a long shot. May I suggest this as an addition to the page? Ottman's IHNAMAIMS page Hong-baba 21:13, 20 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not saying that it definitely should be included but I think it's very important to at least consider the inclusion of Space Invaders (1978) as the first game to use music rather than Carnival. The problem is a lot of people think that it technically doesn't qualify as music because it is not based in any key but it is a percussive soundtrack that is not just there to represent movement or interaction but to increase the drama of the situation. It has rhythm and an increase in tempo and should at least included as an example of one of the first 'soundtracks' in a game. After all, if we are talking about Video Game Music as being it's own entity then it is important not to define it by pre-existing musical boundaries. It's important for no other reason than to show that there is debate in gaming about what constitutes what music actually is in games. Any thoughts? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.102.32.215 (talk) 17:41, 26 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

the noise you're describing was essentially a sound effect of the moving invaders. I don't consider that music. Anyone else?RCHM (talk) 18:27, 26 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry to keep on commenting but I'm getting more and more confused about the timeline. If we are including sound in the timeline (Crossbow being the first game to use digitised sound) why are we not including earlier games with sound, regardless of whether it was digitised or not. Pong (1972) for example. Is this article suggesting that game sound begins when it becomes digitised. And also what kind of sound did games use before 1983? I'm certain that Journey Escape released in 1982 had digitised music and sound and maybe even Tempest (1981). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.96.98.166 (talk) 15:08, 28 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Gaming fm[edit]

How about an inclusion about radio stations such as gaming fm that play game music? Jamsoup 20:45, 1 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Ridge Racer is not special[edit]

"One of the earliest games, Ridge Racer, was loaded entirely into RAM, letting the player insert a music CD to provide a soundtrack throughout all of the gameplay."

To my knowledge the above "feature" is not mentioned in the manual of the game. In early PS1 games the game data would often be located in in the first track of the game cd which would load into the ram. When loaded, the game would play the real tracks from the cd (2 and up). If the game cd was switched out with an audio cd, the game wouldn't care (as there was no need for the game data anymore) and simply play music from that cd instead.

In my ears it just sounds a bit off. I mean... "one of the earliest games"... Don't you mean "almost 100% of all the early games except one or two very outstanding examples"?

(nostalgia sidenote: i brought the shitty game Robotron X to a lot of parties as a teen because the soundtrack rocked).

Yeah, but Ridge Racer was a launch title for the PSX, so that's probably why it's used an an example. ♫ Melodia Chaconne ♫ 11:32, 25 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Bemani?[edit]

Looking at the timeline, I want something to be said about music games. -70.160.215.196 04:15, 5 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Fair use rationale for Image:Shadowofthebeast.jpg[edit]

Image:Shadowofthebeast.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

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If there is other other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.BetacommandBot 03:48, 6 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

No mention of music in Hitman series[edit]

I think a mention is needed somewhere about the music in the Hitman video game series. The music chosen in all the games is great, in my opinon!
24.87.34.109 09:27, 24 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

There's a lot of games with "in my oponion great" music that aren't mentioned in the articles. But the article isn't meant to be a laundry list. Is there something unique about Hitman, or did it pioneer something? If not, then the exclusion makes sense. ♫ Melodia Chaconne ♫ 11:48, 24 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, Hitman is very relevant I believe. As far as I am aware the developer (Io) initiated the use of an entire orchestra to create a video game soundtrack by commissioning Budapest Symphony Orchestra. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.96.98.166 (talkcontribs)
No. Look in the article. At the very least, Grandia, Heart of Darkness, The Lost World, Medal of Honor, Outcast, and Sakura Wars 1 and 2 all had orchestral music before Hitman. Hell, even Final Fantasy VIII had two orchestral tracks. ♫ Melodia Chaconne ♫ (talk) 15:37, 23 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I think Michael Giacchino's music on The Lost World performed by the Seattle Symphony was indeed the first game to feature original orchestral music. Final Fantasy VIII certainly does not have relevance to this point though as 'two orchestral tracks' is not an entire score. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.200.120 (talk) 13:15, 26 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Removed screenshots[edit]

There is no reason for their user in this article. Wikipedia guidelines are against using unfree images for mere decoration.--SeizureDog (talk) 12:16, 9 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Drive By Tagging[edit]

or marking, or xxx for improvement. I'm frankly getting sick of these boxes popping up in articles, but then no really useful clarification on why they think the box belongs in the talk page. If I don't see any more detail on why they are added, i'm going to start nixing themRCHM (talk) 19:34, 22 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Fair use rationale for Image:Super Mario Bros. - Original Theme.ogg[edit]

Image:Super Mario Bros. - Original Theme.ogg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

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BetacommandBot (talk) 05:50, 21 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]